Michael Bilandic

Jane Byrne, whose blizzard-stoked victory in Chicago's 1979 mayoral election made her the city's first female mayor and who broke the grip of former Mayor Richard J. Daley's Democratic patronage machine, has died. She was 81.

Byrne died Friday at a hospice in Chicago, her daughter, Kathy Byrne, told the Associated Press. No cause was given.

A career civil servant and political operative, Byrne had never run for office.

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FOR THE RECORD

Nov. 14, 12:52 p.m.: An earlier version of this post said that Byrne was 80 and born in 1934. According to public records, she was born May 24, 1933, and was...

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Jane Byrne, whose blizzard-stoked victory in Chicago's 1979 mayoral election made her the city's first female mayor and who broke the grip of former Mayor Richard J. Daley's Democratic patronage machine, has died. She was 81.
Byrne died Friday at a...